ubcontractors say they’re owed millions, face financial ruin, after helping build Obama Presidential Center
Adamson Plumbing owner Mike Owen says his company is owed nearly $4M on the Chicago project
... View Moreubcontractors say they’re owed millions, face financial ruin, after helping build Obama Presidential Center
Adamson Plumbing owner Mike Owen says his company is owed nearly $4M on the Chicago project
Michael Dorgan By Michael Dorgan Fox News
Published June 17, 2026
Subcontractor says his company is owed nearly $4M for work on Obama Center project
Mike Owen, president and owner of Adamson Plumbing, said his company is still owed nearly $4 million for work performed on the Obama Presidential Center project.
CHICAGO — The Obama Presidential Center was billed as a lasting legacy to former President Barack Obama, and its construction was touted as an ambitious model built with aggressive goals for minority-owned and local businesses.
But now, some of the very subcontractors who helped build the 19.3-acre campus on Chicago’s South Side say they are facing financial ruin as they race to recover millions of dollars they claim remain unpaid ahead of the center's grand opening Friday. Overall construction costs were reported to be $830 million in 2021, and have likely climbed past the $1 billion mark.
A Fox News Digital investigation identified multiple construction firms claiming losses ranging from hundreds of thousands of dollars to tens of millions. The allegations cut against one of the Center's defining goals: helping minority-owned businesses and local contractors grow through one of Chicago's highest-profile construction projects. Several of the complaints reviewed by Fox News Digital come from firms that were supposed to benefit from that mission.
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